Chen Hongbin, Yu Shuai, Liu Haiyang, Liu Jie, Xiao Yongguang, Wu Dandan, Pan Xiaoyu, Zhou Cuihong, Lei Yifeng, Liu Sheng
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060 China.
School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074 China.
Microsyst Nanoeng. 2021 Jul 22;7:55. doi: 10.1038/s41378-021-00274-x. eCollection 2021.
Assessment of lung and heart states is of critical importance for patients with pneumonia. In this study, we present a small-sized and ultrasensitive accelerometer for continuous monitoring of lung and heart sounds to evaluate the lung and heart states of patients. Based on two-stage amplification, which consists of an asymmetric gapped cantilever and a charge amplifier, our accelerometer exhibited an extremely high ratio of sensitivity to noise compared with conventional structures. Our sensor achieves a high sensitivity of 9.2 V/g at frequencies less than 1000 Hz, making it suitable to use to monitor weak physiological signals, including heart and lung sounds. For the first time, lung injury, heart injury, and both lung and heart injuries in discharged pneumonia patients were revealed by our sensor device. Our sound sensor also successfully tracked the recovery course of the discharged pneumonia patients. Over time, the lung and heart states of the patients gradually improved after discharge. Our observations were in good agreement with clinical reports. Compared with conventional medical instruments, our sensor device provides rapid and highly sensitive detection of lung and heart sounds, which greatly helps in the evaluation of lung and heart states of pneumonia patients. This sensor provides a cost-effective alternative approach to the diagnosis and prognosis of pneumonia and has the potential for clinical and home-use health monitoring.
对肺炎患者而言,评估肺部和心脏状况至关重要。在本研究中,我们展示了一种小型超灵敏加速度计,用于持续监测肺部和心脏声音,以评估患者的肺部和心脏状况。基于由非对称间隙悬臂梁和电荷放大器组成的两级放大,与传统结构相比,我们的加速度计展现出极高的灵敏度与噪声比。我们的传感器在频率低于1000Hz时实现了9.2V/g的高灵敏度,使其适用于监测包括心肺声音在内的微弱生理信号。我们的传感设备首次揭示了出院肺炎患者的肺损伤、心脏损伤以及肺和心脏双重损伤情况。我们的声音传感器还成功跟踪了出院肺炎患者的康复过程。随着时间推移,患者出院后肺部和心脏状况逐渐改善。我们的观察结果与临床报告高度吻合。与传统医疗仪器相比,我们的传感设备能快速且高度灵敏地检测肺部和心脏声音,这对评估肺炎患者的肺部和心脏状况大有帮助。该传感器为肺炎的诊断和预后提供了一种经济高效的替代方法,具有临床和家庭健康监测的潜力。